The Tech Equestrian

Welcome to the new normal. Technology is everywhere and effects everyone and everything. To keep up with the changes and information that impacts the equestrian world, I hope you will enjoy the stories, profiles and insights this blog features. In addition, stay connected on social by joining the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages!

As we know horses are herd animals. In the wild they survive by forming bands to protect themselves from predators. This collective group forms a strong bond led by instinct and their dominate traits of hearing, sight, smell and of course, speed that allow the breed to reproduce and survive. When The Tech Equestrian recently spoke with Christie Schulte Kappert, Program Manager from My Right Horse, an online portal that specializes in horse adoption and is an extension of The Right Horse Initiative, the power of teamwork is apparent from the many partner organizations that help drive the mission forward.

What integrated ways (or disruptions) will technology change the horse world; please provide an example of what you are currently seeing, planning on offering with your product/service or hoping becomes available?

We hope you are enjoying one of my favorite months: June – a hybrid month – half spring and half summer filled with long sunny days (hopefully) and lower humidity (in the Northeast, at least) and also a perfect month to get to know The Tech Equestrian Advisory Board members. We asked them a range of questions so you cannot only respect their new products/services/apps but appreciate some of their likes and admirations. I know I can relate to many of their answers. Enjoy and happy riding!

When Betty and John Messina wanted to do something special to celebrate their wedding anniversary they didn’t step onto a plane to go to a vacation destination or take a seat at the table of an expensive restaurant, instead they decided to sit in the saddle and take a horseback riding lesson. However, what they thought would be an easy, seamless experience of finding a nearby stable in Westchester County, New York turned into a two-month long process of emailing and phoning stables with sometimes no replies to their outreach. “The whole experience was very discouraging,” recalled Betty. They finally found the right stable, took their lesson and when they finished the lesson, they took out their credit card. “There was an awkward moment when the instructor asked if we could pay by check,” Betty said in dismay. In the age of subscription services and a multitude of ways to pay for goods and services digitally there had to be a better way. “It soon dawned on us, with our combined knowledge and technology backgrounds, we could solve this problem.”

PARIS, France: There are many intelligent and sophisticated riders looking for new ways to measure their performance goals. As is the case with Zakaria Antar, CEO and co-founder of Seaver, a former semi-professional rider who used to train with Abdelkebir Ouaddar. “I realized that aside from trusting my coach, there was no precise and scientific way for me to measure my progress,” explained Zakaria. Luckily with technology becoming more accessible and part of our culture, he found a way to monitor progress, performance, and most importantly his horses’ well-being through a product he co-founded called Seaver. After three years in development, Seaver’s first product was launched in April 2018.

2018 was full of new horse tech products and The Tech Equestrian was right there giving you first-hand information on the features, capabilities and advantages of each. As we experience the disruption of technology in our own consumer lives, the horse world is slowly waking up to the realities and possibilities technology can provide. For this year’s top ten blog posts - we looked at the highest page views to our site from each post to compile the top ten. From horse transportation to horse safety and performance wearables - these were some of the areas that interested you the most. If you haven’t had a chance to read, now is a great time to do so - a New Year is upon us and you don’t want to be left behind! Keep connected!

Juliette Silvain, founder of CAVALL and full-time student at Georgetown University is on a quest to provide equestrians with a new way to buy and sell a horse using the power of digital. Born in Paris, France, Silvain was exposed to horses at a young age, including her grandfather who bred horses in Europe. At age 20 and already 16 years in the saddle, Silvain is studying Marketing and Management as a junior at Georgetown with a goal to combine her love of horses with business.

The Tech Equestrian recently caught up with Alexa Anthony, CEO of Magic AI Corporation and parent company to StableGuard™ to find out more about how their monitoring and alert digital system is transforming horse safety.

International equestrian and technology entrepreneur, Pablo Jimenez Godoy is onto something big. As co-creator of the Staller app, Pablo shared exciting new developments for the business in a recent interview with The Tech Equestrian that includes building a new digital platform that will transform the horse show world, as we know it. But let’s start with a little background…

“In 2015, I was trying to figure out when one of my horses had his Coggins and thought to myself with so much technology available, there ought to be a better way to keep track of my horses’ healthcare records,” said Ellen Eakin, Founder and President of EquestFile.

If you ever want to experience the 'best of the best' in the world of highly competitive Grand Prix show jumping, I strongly recommend attending a Longines event. As I made the hour long drive from my home (which was so nice to be close by) and not sure what to expect...